Universal remote controls

[Black Hole]

Waste of space. No number buttons. How could Mrs. Trev possibly deal with that?

Here's one with number buttons (but no soft screen): https://www.amazon.co.uk/Logitech-Harmony-Companion-Control-Entertainment-Black/dp/B014GXQ3S4

However:

 

[makem]

https://www.ebay.co.uk/i/273295228666?chn=ps

An IR blaster for your current android phone.

 

[Trev]

Wrong link BH.

 

[/df]

https://www.ebay.co.uk/i/273295228666?chn=ps

An IR blaster for your current android phone.

The word is that these are a bit hit&miss, depending on the RC app and the phone (how much current does it want to send down the headphone socket? Perhaps there has to be a limit to stop you deafening yourself, at least for the next few months).

Still for a couple of quid, worth a try and one can always sell it on "as new".

A pricier route is a separate IR gadget connected to the phone by Bluetooth, which has its own pros and cons.

 

[Black Hole]

Wrong link BH.

?

I gave a link to a package with number buttons on the handset, and showed a photo of the unit under discussion with soft-key number buttons.

 

[Trev]

OOPs Sorry. Must look harder next time. It looked like the one that Rob linked to earlier, but on closer inspection......

 

[Robti]

Using a harmony elite and never had any problems with it controlling my humax or Panasonic tv (and 7 other items)

 

[RobH1]

Using a harmony elite and never had any problems with it controlling my humax or Panasonic tv (and 7 other items)

Ah, but can headquarters manage?

 

[Trev]

Mine certainly couldn't.

 

[Robti]

Only problem I had with the humax was if I woke it up while it was already awake recording it sent it to sleep, but that was my fault not setting the activity up properly

 

[Black Hole]

Keep us posted BH, meanwhile I'll just tap up Amazon for a bit of commission!

I've not decided whether I'm prepared to spend the money yet - I have had some other expenses to deal with.

 

[Wallace]

Only problem I had with the humax was if I woke it up while it was already awake recording it sent it to sleep, but that was my fault not setting the activity up properly

That is the reason I don’t use my Harmony Elite. I couldn’t make SWMBO get out of the habit of using the remote control to turn things on or off. As a result when I used the remote I ended up turning boxes off that were on and on that were already off. I got really p@ssed off with it.

It’s obviously not the Harmony’s fault. It has no way of knowing if a device is on or off.

I just use the hub to remotely switch the HRRs on if I have forgotten to set a timer recording and it falls out of the pre-programmed wake/sleep schedule.

 

[Black Hole]

You can force the HDR-FOX on (with very little colateral damage if it's already on) by sending it a "0".

 

[af123]

You can force the HDR-FOX on (with very little colateral damage if it's already on) by sending it a "0".

I did look at coming up with a way for discrete power off too.. it would be easy enough to catch and translate an unused remote code to power off, the problem is that the front panel is not picky and will wake up the box up with everything I tried. I wonder whether a code from a different remote mode could be used? I will have to experiment more when I get time.

 

[scorer]

Logitech currently have the Harmony 665 in a black Friday sale for £46 (can't do links, but googling 'logitech harmony 665' finds it), which has plenty of physical buttons.